Photo of a microphone - TOEFL independent writing task podcast
Mar 3 2022
TOEFL – Independent Writing Task 

Today’s podcast is based on an independent writing task for the TOEFL exam. This task has a maximum time allowed of 30 minutes and has a word count of 300 words.

This is a TOEFL independent writing task. Listen to the Podcast and follow the instructions. A model answer will be shown to you in class. One2one academy, teaching English as a second language since 2011.

TOEFL – Think before you write

It goes without saying that you should always think before you write. Your ability to express your opinion is the key to this task. Try your best not to use similar words and phrases to show the depth of your vocabulary.

TOEFL – The learning process

Like anything, practice makes perfect; the learning process depends on it. Obtaining higher scores is based on learning from your mistakes. Understanding how to turn your weaknesses into strengths is key to this process.

TOEFL Podcast

Work smarter, not harder.

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TOEFL – Examples

Try and use examples to support your response; these examples should be from your own experience and will help you to express an opinion in English as a second language.

TOEFL – Podcast

We always try to help you identify with listening skills, so we produce a podcast to help you identify with pronunciation, intonation and speed of speech.

Model answer

A model answer will be shown to you in class to see where mistakes have been made and identify with capitalisation, spelling, paragraph indentation, use of prepositions and paraphrasing.

Online classes

If you want to know more about preparing for the TOEFL exam, you can contact us using the button below. 

Writing task

Here is the task that you need to complete. 

In any relationship, telling the truth should always be the most important consideration.

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Conversation Topics - a woman crossing a busy road
Feb 24 2022
Topics-conversation

New conversation topics, a podcast about the latest conversation topics featured in our conversation course.

PODCAST

Listen to the podcast about the latest conversation topics from one2one academy. On the whole, students who practice improve over time. So, try and expand your sentence constructions to reflect more detail. On the one hand you will need to develop listening skills to improve however on the other you will learn while you apply in our specialist online classes.

Conversation topics

One2oneacademy.com, work smarter, not harder.

New conversation topics

Social media has helped society to communicate more effectively.

Cryptocurrencies are the future as more and more businesses are moving online.

Dentistry should be government subsidized and not just a private healthcare option.

All cars should have recording equipment to help the police reduce road accidents.

Criminals only benefit from serving time in prison; they will always re-offend.

Pets are electronically chipped; humans should be too.

A cashless society is bad for an economy.

Working from home should be a choice.

Remember that your objective is to express yourself in English as a second language.

Build your confidence and learn how to apply grammar with our conversation course. Our online calendar works in your time zone, in addition our language instructors are native English speakers. Follow us for more conversation topics.

Qualified, Experienced London based language instructors

An English language school providing online classes for home study. Established since 2011, we specialise in preparing students for English exams with all recognised bodies. So, our services include Interview Preparation, CV writing, conversation classes, Business English and Exam Preparation. Each class is online, individual and lasts for 55 minutes. Experienced, qualified and London based language instructors.

The art of conversation requires practice. So if you would like to learn more about this course or any of the other courses we offer, contact us. Our one2one shop is now open for students who need extra help with building their listening skills. So, if you you need listening practice with text, press here.

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A photo of a table and chair used to depict diversity, interview vocabulary.
Feb 19 2022
Diversity – Interview vocabulary

In this podcast, you will learn about the alternative vocabulary used at an interview. I cover responsibility, work ethic and teamwork.

“One2one academy, work smarter, not harder”.

A photo of a table and chair used to depict diversity, interview vocabulary.

Interview – Responsibility

If you are in charge of people in your current job, you could use the word responsible, but there are better ways to express this.

For example, if you are responsible for a team of 6 people, we could use:

I supervise a team of six people
I oversee
I’m accountable for
I manage

Staying away from conventional phrases or words can often make all the difference and give you an advantage which, let’s face it, is what this is all about.

Next is your work ethic; most people simply state that they are hard workers, so to stay away from that form, you could say;

I’m disciplined in my approach.
I take ownership of tasks.
I’m very consistent
Focussed on meeting objectives
Enjoy the challenges that surround problem-solving
I’m very goal orientated.

Interview – Teamwork

I could not leave teamwork out of this mix, so rather than just say that you work well in a team, perhaps you should consider the following:

I’m supportive
I enjoy collaboration
I enjoy working within diverse teams that bring unique perspectives.
I’m sympathetic and understanding towards others.
I enjoy watching those around me grow and expand their knowledge.

Interview – Diversity

The key to beating the competition is staying away from standard answers. Instead, be as diverse as you can, as this can often make the difference between getting the position you want and creating opportunities for yourself.

Imagine that this process depends on answers that will leave a lasting impression and give you a tactical advantage.

I hope you have enjoyed this podcast and if you have, please remember to give us that all-important like and share. If you would like to learn more about our interview preparation classes, contact us using the contact us form on our website.

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The data trail, IELTS academic task one.
Feb 17 2022
The data trail – IELTS Academic Level Podcast

This podcast is called the data trail. It is about how data is presented in part one of the IELTS academic level writing exam.

The IELTS academic level writing task requires a greater understanding of how presented data is contrasted. This Podcast will help you to identify with the vocabulary used in part one.

The following podcast will help you to identify with the format of part one of the IELTS writing task at academic level.

Podcast

Like and share

I hope you found this podcast helpful, please help us by liking and sharing. If you would like to know more about preparing for the IELTS exam at either an academic or general level, press the contact button below.

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A photo of a puzzle which reflects a challenge to learn vocabulary for the IELTS writing tasks.
Jan 5 2022
Writing Vocabulary Booster-IELTS

A vocabulary booster, the depth of your vocabulary is essential if you want to achieve a higher score in this section of the IELTS exam.

The key to improving your writing skills is based on building vocabulary.

Memorising words and phrasing can be a gamble as the task requires you to have understanding. One of the questions often raised by students is how to start an essay. Copying the question or statement to form an answer is not recommended since that will not gain points. Below, you will find some vocabulary to help you begin the introduction.

Vocabulary for an introduction

Most people believe that …..
The vast majority of people believe that……
Some believe that …

There are no defined rules, but you can use the following to end an introduction as a guide.

This essay will discuss both perspectives
The following essay will take a look at the advantages and disadvantages
The following essay will look at both points of view

A photo of different shapes to suggest that learning vocabulary is a challenge.

Opinion

There are many different levels of expressing an opinion. You should consider the following:

I think (general)
I strongly believe that (Strong opinion)
Personally speaking (Personal opinion)
In my opinion (general)

Transitions

In the second and third paragraph of your essay, you will need to use a transition; this guides the reader to identify with a sequence. Consider using the following:

Firstly
First
On the one hand

The third paragraph is used to demonstrate another point of view, so you can use the following:

Secondly
Second of all
On the other hand

With every essay, you will be required to give examples. Here are a few to consider:

For example
As an example
For instance

The final part of your essay is where you are showing your audience that you are coming to the end of your essay:

In summary
In conclusion
Taking the above into account

At this point, I will say that there is more vocabulary to consider, and I have only shown limited vocabulary to help you get started.

The following topic is based on music. Based on a maximum time of 40 minutes to complete and a 250 minimum word count, complete the following task.

Essay writing task

Some people believe that working from home is more productive than woking in an office. Write an essay to express your opinion and where possible provide examples from your own experience.

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Jan 4 2022
Culture-IELTS essay writing task

When learning a new language, culture is a consideration. It is the topic for this IELTS essay writing task.

IELTS essay writing tasks have a minimum word count of 250 words and a maximum time of 40 minutes to complete.

There is no short cut for improving your essay writing skills. There is some truth in the fact that the way in which we speak does have some common ground with the way in which we write.

Learning the structure of how to write an essay can help you to establish a template that can be applied and this will save you time.

Types Of Essays

There are five main types of essays and these are indicated below:

Opinion

Discussion

Advantage/ Disadvantage

Solution

Direct

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The IELTS Course

Podcast

Essay Writing Task

Some people believe that you need to learn about a culture in order to learn a language, others believe that it is not necessary. Write an essay to express your opinion. Where possible, try and provide examples from your own experience.

Work smarter, not harder!

Corrections

All corrections are done in class, so that you can identify with your weaknesses and gradually turn them into strengths.

Improving Writing Skills

To practice on improving your writing skills, we recommend that you become familiar with some of the topics that the IELTS board use.

Work

Family

Events

Entertainment

Hobbies

Travel and transportation

The environment

Culture

Art

Music

There are many others, however the key to learning is to practice with topics that are outside of your comfort zone.

Challenges

One of the challenges that you will find is vocabulary building, so to build vocabulary, you should focus on adjectives that will help you to describe the topics indicated above.

Watching movies on TV can prove useful to help with understanding but keep in mind that exam English can be more formal and focussed on specific vocabulary.

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Photo of a table and two chairs to suggest an interview scenario. Experience vs qualifications.
Dec 14 2021
Experience vs qualifications

Some people believe that employers value experience more than they value qualifications. Write an essay to express your opinion. Where possible, try and include examples from your own experience.

Qualifications and experience

Firstly, there are many employers who, based on traditional values, will only consider job applicants who are at a degree level or above. So, some employers view a degree-level candidate as a marker. Thus, this so-called milestone demonstrates dedication, commitment, planning and achievement on a professional and personal level. 

Experience

However, there is a different school of thought that nothing can replace experience, which contributes towards enhanced business economies of scale and thus more profit.

Most employers would probably like a candidate to have a striking balance between the two. However, this may not be possible and is sector-dependent. 

Writing Task

This is an IELTS essay writing task based on this topic. Listen to the Podcast and write an IELTS essay. You must finish the task within 40 minutes and write more than 250 words. Where possible, try and include examples based on your own experience.

The IELTS essay is part two of the writing task. The letter-writing task is part one; at an academic level, you will be asked to interpret data instead.

If you liked this Podcast, please remember to like and share.

Homework

At the beginning of each class, homework is marked and errors identified. So, we will do our very best to identify strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, this will help to identify a study plan. The average time taken for a student to prepare for the IELTS general level exam is twelve weeks compared to the IELTS academic level which is twenty weeks. Please bear in mind that these are only guidelines and each student is different.

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A photo of a robot.
Sep 23 2021
Robots and the elderly.

This is an IELTS essay writing task based on whether robots should replace humans to look after the elderly. The time allowed to complete this task is 40 minutes and you need to write a minimum of 250 words. Listen to the audio and follow the instructions.

This is an image of a robot which is the theme of this IELTS essay writing task.

PODCAST

TEXT VERSION

“Work smarter, not harder”.

Task

This weeks task is an IELTS writing task, so you will need to try and complete it within 40 mins. It’s ok if you take longer when you’re studying, but you need to be aware of time since that is the maximum time allowed.

The essay writing section of this exam allows for a minimum word count of 250 words, and again, you need to work towards that target. It’s ok to write more; most students average at about 300 words.

Robots and the elderly

This weeks task is about Robots helping to care for the elderly. It’s an interesting concept since globally; we are all living longer. I have included a video to help you understand the idea in our blog, which can be found on our website; one2oneacademy.com.

Here is the task that you need to complete:

Some people believe that humans should look after the elderly; others believe that robots can replace carers. Write an essay to express your opinion, and where possible, try and include examples from your own experience.

One2one Students

If you’re a one2one student, we will correct your essay in real-time at the beginning of your next class using Google Docs. This will help you to identify with your mistakes and provide you with a point of reference. Focus on your weaknesses not your strengths.

Try your best to avoid using the same vocabulary since this defeats the objective. However, using synonyms can often help you to achieve a better score.

Video link

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Sep 20 2021
Photo Description – live show

This is a live show broadcast on Podbean. A beneficial podcast for students who are preparing for the Duolingo exam and need a little guidance on the specific type of vocabulary used in this task. You may need to download the free app to listen to the broadcast; you can do this here. Alternatively, go to either the Apple store or the Google Play sore and download the free app.

SEP 20th 2021 at 4:30pm (UK Time)

Join Show

Exam Images

I hope to see you at this event Monday the 20th of September at 4:30pm UK time.

For more details, join me on our exclusive Exam English Group on Facebook.

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Photo Description
Sep 17 2021
Duolingo Photo Description

A small collection of photos, use them to practice for the photo description section of the Duolingo exam. If you are a one2one student, we will provide you with target vocabulary in class.

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

Image 5

Podcast

Press the play button on the image below to listen to some hints and tips.

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